A/N: Wow I bet you want to know what happens. Been a while since I updated cause of fanfiction.net and stuff. Well let me say that I apologize for the change in narration. For this chapter, it revolves around three others, going more of an indirect third-person perspective. Rukato fans, don't get comfortable quite yet, the story's just beginning!



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Henry couldn't believe his eyes. Rika and Takato kissing?! He looked at them, and walked back to the others in disgust.

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Rika loved this moment. 'He is such a great kisser,' she thought. 'Not that I have kissed anyone else before.' She looked out of the corner of her eye and saw the blue-haired boy dejectedly walk away.



'Henry,' she thought. But Takato captured her and her senses.

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"Gee, hotshot, I told you not to look over there," Ryo said with his hands on his head.



"I don't believe this!" Henry exclaimed. "I thought, I thought…"



"Guess you thought wrong," Ryo replied with a frown. Then he put his head down. "I liked her too."



Ryo put his hands down and looked at Henry. "I have an idea," he whispered to him so the others wouldn't hear. "We're going to the mall, right? Let's see what they are up to by themselves without them knowing. That way we could see what is really going on between those two."



"Hey man, isn't that stalking?" Henry asked, raising and eyebrow.



"Hey man, isn't that called stabbing your two best friends in the back?" Ryo answered.



"You got a point." He sighed. "I just wished it didn't have to come out like this."

Ryo shrugged. "That's just the way some things are."



Soon afterward Rika came back, smiling and holding Takato's hand.



"Oh, Rika," Ryo voiced to her. "I see that you are in good hands, if you know what I mean."



Rika's smile quickly disappeared. "Shut up, Akiyama."



"Well, boys and girls," Kenta butted in, "Aren't we going to go to the mall to go hang out? I want to get a new MarineAngemon Beanie Baby."

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The Shinjuku Mall was only a short 10-minute walk away, and the seven arrived at about 3:00. Along the way, Takato and Rika were still holding hands, making it obvious of their newfound relationship. But Henry and Ryo would make no verbal or physical contact toward them. They kept whispering into each other's ears as to what they would do about this.



When they entered the mall, Takato looked at the others. "We'll meet at about 7:00. For now, everyone just explore at your own leisure."



And with that, Takato and Rika walked off.



"Hmm…that was quick," Kazu pointed out. He and Kenta left to go play some games at the arcade, leaving Henry, Ryo, and Jeri.



Jeri stood there with a frown on her face, much to Henry's surprise. "Jeri, what's wrong? Are you sick?"



She shook her head. "No, it's not that, it's just…"



"Just what?"



"It's just that, I like Takato! I've always liked him!"



Henry couldn't believe it! (A/N: I know in the anime it's totally obvious, but it is my fic) He didn't see that coming. Ryo, however, didn't seem moved by it.



"Ryo, can you believe that?" he asked him.



"She already told me. That's why we didn't want you to go over to see what they were doing at the theater." he answered.



"Well," Henry said, clenching his fists. "That gives us more incentive to stalk them! Jeri, are you coming with us— "



"You were going to stalk them?"



Oops…



"Yeah, I guess we kinda were planning to. Well, no delaying the inevitable. Are you gonna come with us?"



Jeri shrugged. "Sure, I guess…"



Ryo gave a thumbs-up. "It's a plan!"

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"How about the new Bad Religion cd?" Takato asked Rika.



"How much does it cost?" She asked him.



"So, they're at Camelot," Ryo mouthed to Henry and Jeri. "Let's just lay low and see what's up." Henry disguised himself into the rack of posters, Ryo went to look at the video games, and Jeri put on headphones and pretended to listen to music that the store freely sampled to customers.



Henry was pretending to look at the posters, flipping through the racks of picture of bands, athletes, and beautiful women. He tried to listen hard.

"Rika, sweetheart, let's go get something to eat."



Rika looked at him. "Sure," she said. He took his hand and exited the cd department.



"Dammit!" Ryo said to himself.



After the "couple" left, the two boys and girl met up near the enterance of the store.



"Well, that worked. Let's go follow them to the food court," Henry decided. The other two nodded.



"We might as well get something to eat while we're there," Jeri pointed out.



The terrible trio walked to the other side of the mall and upstairs and looked for the food court. "Hey," Henry said, "You guys got any sunglasses you could use to disguise yourselves?"



"Sure," Ryo said. "Like they don't know who we are. Henry shrugged and put on his sunglasses. "Let's go get something to eat."



Henry and Jeri went over to get some Chinese food, while Ryo stood in line for some tacos. Henry looked around and saw Takato and Rika. "There they are!" he pointed out to Jeri.



They were sitting on a counter, their backs facing Henry and Jeri, but Henry saw them. They were sharing a plate of spaghetti, down to the noodle.



"Ugh…" Henry said, disgusted. "That's just not right. I thought I'd never see the day when Rika ends up sharing a plate of food with a boy, especially Takato."



After Henry and Jeri got their food, they motioned to Ryo across the food court to sit a couple of tables behind Takato and Rika. They sat down, while listening intently. Luckily for them, the couple did not notice them.



"So, Rika, what did you see in me today that threw you at me?"

Rika blushed. "I saw the inner you. You were very kind to me, while not lying like Ryo does—"



'Hey!'



"You're not sensitive to a fault like Henry is—"



'What the—'



"And you are more handsome than they are," she concluded.



Ryo and Henry both scoffed.



"Now let me ask you one thing," she requested.



"Sure."



"Didn't you like Jeri?"



Jeri's ears immediately perked up, listening more intently than she ever did in her life.



"I didn't, and I don't."



"But what about what happened in— "



"I know what you're talking about. The D-reaper. What I did was an act of friendship, at least in my eyes. I don't know if she thought of it that way. But I don't like her like that."



Jeri's heart broke right before her eyes. 'He didn't say what I thought he just said…did he?'



Rika sighed. "Yeah, she's too wild. I don't know how anyone sane could go out with her."



That did it for Jeri. Takato didn't want to go out with her, and Rika just knocked on her, very badly. She ran out of the food court without alerting Takato and Rika.



"What's up with Jeri?" Ryo whispered.



Henry shrugged. "I dunno. Where'd she go?"



"Hey, Takato, I gotta go to the bathroom. I'll be right back." Rika said.



"Alright."



"Crap!" Ryo panicked. Quickly, he grabbed a nearby newspaper that just happened to be on another table. He handed Henry a section and they both dove their heads into it, trying to hide from Rika, while Takato took a sip of his soda.



Takato clumsily spilled his soda to the ground, and noticing a shortage of napkins, looked at the two people sitting right behind him, reading a newspaper.



"Excuse me, sirs, do you have any napkins?"



One of the boys, panicking, handed him several napkins. "Thanks."



He turned around, but the spilled soda caused him to slip up and crash right into the boys!



"Oh, sorry, I… Henry! Ryo! What are you doing here? Were you listening to us?"



Henry and Ryo looked at each other, waiting for the other to respond. "Um…"



"I'll ask again. Were you listening?" Takato demanded.



"Do you want to know the truth? Yes we were," Ryo said, proud of himself.

"Then why didn't you tell me that you guys were there?"



Henry took a deep breath. "Ok, we wanted to know what was going on between you and Rika, so we decided to, well, follow you around."



Takato frowned. "So you mean stalked."



Ryo bit his lip. "Um… yeah."



Takato looked at the ground, then at the two. "And you guys are my friends?"



"It was the only way we could find out from you. We couldn't ask Rika. You know she would deny it."



"All you had to do was ask." Takato pointed out.



Henry and Ryo were shocked. Takato really thought that they were his friends. He would be willing to tell them about Rika, yet they weren't being good friends and decided to stalk him.



'Shoot, what was I thinking?' Henry said silently to himself.



'What a jerk I've been.' Ryo chirped in his mind.



"We…we're sorry," Henry and Ryo simultaneously said.



"Sorry won't take back what you did," Takato started, "But I do forgive you guys."



"Thanks," Ryo said. "You are a good friend, Gogglehead. Now where did Jeri go?"

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Rika walked out of the bathroom feeling better about herself.



"Rika, do you know where Jeri is?" Takato asked. Maybe she would know about Jeri.



"Hmm…" Rika thought. "Can't say I've seen her since we first got here."



"She looked sad, so she might have left to go home," Ryo said. "Hey, now that I think about it, she left because of what you said."



"I know, but it is true," Rika pointed out. "Hey, wait a minute. What do you mean, 'what I said?'"



"Oh. I guess we were kinda listening on you and Takato."



"Kinda. Ok. Now that I think about it though, I think I saw her exit the building."



"Well then, she must have went home," Henry concluded. "Come on, I think it's time to go home now. Let's find the two clowns and get out of here before my hair turns gray."



Everyone agreed to, except Takato. 'Something just doesn't feel right,' he pondered to himself. 'Why would Jeri just go home without telling anybody?'



"Guys, go ahead, I still need to take care of some shopping." He said to them.



Rika looked at him. "Do you want me to stay?"



He shook his head. "You go with Ryo and Henry."



Rika was very hesitant, but nodded. "Ok, see you later." She gave him a quick kiss that Henry and Ryo didn't even want to look at. After that, the three left, leaving Takato behind.



'She's lying…' Takato thought to himself. 'Rika's lying about what she knows about Jeri.'



Once the rest left, Takato pondered about where Jeri could possibly be.



Takato thought for a moment. 'If I were Jeri, and I got depressed, where would I go? Of course! Where every girl would go. The bathroom! He ran over to the nearest bathroom and looked around.

'Ok, I'm not a girl, but here goes nothing…' Takato said to himself. He opened the girls bathroom door and looked around.

"Jeri?" He looked frantically for her, but could not find her. Suddenly he saw a limp hand under a bathroom stall. He kicked the stall door opened and was shocked to see what lay in front of him.



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Things are getting quite interesting! What did Takato see that shocked him so much? Why would Rika lie to Takato? What did Kazu and Kenta do for those four hours? Let me say that I am going more toward an indirect narration for the rest of the story, so expect to see a little bit of third person over Takato, Ryo, Henry, Rika, and Jeri altogether, though the story will still be mainly about Rika. Sorry for the inconvenience for those who are disappointed about this. Don't know how this one ends? I personally don't either! (shrugs)



Till next time…